2017 - Southern Alps Revisited
There and back again, Sunday, 18 June & Friday 23 June 2017
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We set off at around 2 PM and Chris had a smooth run to Maidstone. Nick, however, got caught with a road closed on the M25. Chris arrived at the usual rendezvous point, Maidstone Services, and anxiously check for messages from Nick. Thankfully the stoppage had been cleared and Nick arrived only a few minutes later than planned. We immediately headed off for Folkstone and boarded our planned shuttle at 1636hrs. Onboard Chris got talking to a man heading out on a European road trip on his old Pan European; he was heading down to Lyons and then across to Germany. As we prepared to disembark Chris accidentally walked into the Pans mirror unit which promptly fell off! The guy hurried to help Chris re-attach and promptly knocked the other one off! So much for Japanese build quality! We then had a uneventful but very pleasant and hot ride down through France to Dijon Sud Novotel. Satnavs worked really well and took us straight to the hotel arriving at the predicted time of 23:51hrs. All in all off to a great start.
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Statistics:
There... Depart 2pm Sunday 18/6 Distance 449miles Time in saddle 6:15hrs Average speed 71mph Average fuel 45mpg Cumulative tour distance 449miles Arrive 2251hrs CET Dijon And back again... Depart 0830hrs CET Distance 406miles Arrive home at 4pm Total tour distance 2,151miles |
Countries
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Passes
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Day one, Monday 19 June 2017
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Another glorious sunny day with temperatures up to 33C! A key priority was to keep moving and maintain a descent airflow!
We set off without breakfast to get some early miles under our belts. We stopped for petrol and breakfast at a services near Jasseron on the A40. Our first pass, Col de Ceignes, is a bit of a cheat being bagged whilst on the motorway - but we have a picture of the sign so in books it counts! We then continued to Bonneville and from here entered the Alps. Our second pass, Col de Saint Jean Sixt (956m) is on the D4. This then turns in to the D909 which we rode through La Clusaz and up Col des Aravis, pass 3, and the first real Alpine pass, at 1,487m. Following the same route as our 2015 tour we then took Col des Saises, pass 4 at 1,650m, riding on to Beaufort and taking the Route de Grande Alps up to Cormet du Roseland, pass 5 at 1,922m. Nick particularly enjoyed this pass as he found his rhythm and it was probably the first time he really had been able to test out the full capabilities of his BMW R1200GSA. He was very pleased with both - himself and he bike!
Here we decided to push south rather than follow our original plan up to Petit Pass St Bernard. So we carried along the Route de Grande Alps and up Col de l'Iseran - pass 6 at 2,770m and one of our favourites. Riding down the southern side of Col de l'Iseran in to the Cenis valley is fabulous as the road is straight and fast. At Llanslevillard we took D1006 up Col du Mont Cenis and into Italy for a night in Susa.
Using Tripadvisor we found a great hotel, the Hotel Napoleon, Susa and it has the best bike parking we've ever had (see photos above).
Dinner, also courtesy of Tripadvisor, was had at Osteria Della Marchesa, and it was exceptional. We knew it would be good when we found the restaurant full and buzzing with locals on a Monday night. All in all a superb days riding.
We set off without breakfast to get some early miles under our belts. We stopped for petrol and breakfast at a services near Jasseron on the A40. Our first pass, Col de Ceignes, is a bit of a cheat being bagged whilst on the motorway - but we have a picture of the sign so in books it counts! We then continued to Bonneville and from here entered the Alps. Our second pass, Col de Saint Jean Sixt (956m) is on the D4. This then turns in to the D909 which we rode through La Clusaz and up Col des Aravis, pass 3, and the first real Alpine pass, at 1,487m. Following the same route as our 2015 tour we then took Col des Saises, pass 4 at 1,650m, riding on to Beaufort and taking the Route de Grande Alps up to Cormet du Roseland, pass 5 at 1,922m. Nick particularly enjoyed this pass as he found his rhythm and it was probably the first time he really had been able to test out the full capabilities of his BMW R1200GSA. He was very pleased with both - himself and he bike!
Here we decided to push south rather than follow our original plan up to Petit Pass St Bernard. So we carried along the Route de Grande Alps and up Col de l'Iseran - pass 6 at 2,770m and one of our favourites. Riding down the southern side of Col de l'Iseran in to the Cenis valley is fabulous as the road is straight and fast. At Llanslevillard we took D1006 up Col du Mont Cenis and into Italy for a night in Susa.
Using Tripadvisor we found a great hotel, the Hotel Napoleon, Susa and it has the best bike parking we've ever had (see photos above).
Dinner, also courtesy of Tripadvisor, was had at Osteria Della Marchesa, and it was exceptional. We knew it would be good when we found the restaurant full and buzzing with locals on a Monday night. All in all a superb days riding.
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Statistics
Depart Dijon 8:15am Arrive La Clusaz 7:30pm Distance - 446miles Passes bagged - 5 Tour distance - 884miles Tour passes - 5 |
Countries
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Day two, Tuesday 20 June 2017
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After a good nights sleep we enjoyed an excellent breakfast with proper Italian cappuccino on the roof terrace over looking Susa - it was a bit noisy up there but we enjoyed the views of the mountains and the city life happening below us. Well fed and watered we then set off for our days adventure.
Colle delle Finestre at 2,176m was our first and most challenging pass of the day. It rises directly from Susa and almost immediately is tight, technical and narrow with a poor road surface. The bottom section is metalled and in 2015 Nick and Chris had ridden up on their tourers. On reflection this was quite a feet as we found this section challenging and difficult on our adventure bikes. An added complication for the 2017 ride was a police escorted bicycle race! Just when we needed space to position for a corner we found a cyclist in the middle of the road!
Before we hit the unmetalled section where the real fun would start Chris managed to drop his Tiger Explorer by stalling mid hair-pin bend! Luckily the bike was only mildly scuffed and Chris un-hurt. Stupidly he had not realised he was still in 3rd gear - schoolboy error!
Having rested and re-organised himself Chris and Nick set off. Very soon hitting the unmetalled road. Unlike Umbrail where this is pretty smooth and solid with limited loose gravel and rocks Finestre is full of gravel, loose rocks and ruts! It was hot and very hard going and of course the cyclists were on the smoothest parts of the road! We managed the top after about 40 minutes hard work and one stop to relax and prepare for the summit. A few other bikers more familiar with off-roading shot passed us leaving us standing. Clearly they knew something we didn't - time for Passport Tours to head to the BMW off-roading school!
Eventually we reached the top and with great relief saw that the road down to Sestriere was smooth and metalled! We nearly knelt down and kissed the tarmac! The top was packed with cyclists, support vehicles and motorcyclists. We stopped for photos and a good rest. Following the SP23R down the other side we reached Sestriere which is an Olympic ski village and stopped for a drink and rest having bagged our second pass at 2,083m.
Heading on along the SP23R we found that Sestriere is really just the bottom half of the south side of Colle delle Finestre having no further upward section. We reached Cesana where we have stopped a couple of times before for an Italian cappuccino before entering France but this time continued onto the SS24 / N94 and up to Col du Montgenevre - our 3rd pass at 1,850m.
From here we followed the route we took in 2015 to Col d'Izoard 2,361m, by taking the D902 at Briancon. Col de l'Izoard was throughly enjoyable and once again we found a photographer near the top taking photos of bikers - we have bought ours of course! We also noticed a rather nice and very busy cafe, Refuge Napoleon du Col d'Izoard, on the Briancon side of the pass so we turned around and had a lovely lunch in the shade watching the riders and cyclists go by. Nick also amused himself by getting his MacBook and finding the photo of him riding up the Col in 2015 and taking a photo of his photo! All in all very pleasant and with 4 passes under our belt we felt good.
Next up was a new pass for us, Col Agnel at 2,744m, making it one of the highest in the Alps. We headed down the D902 through Arvieux and on to the junction with the D947 which we headed west to La Casse. Here we turned right (and south) on to the D5 and rode to Molines-en-Queyras where we took the D205 up the Col. It was a great ride much like the Galibier / Izeran roads and led us high up into a rocky, snowy and pretty barren landscape. At the top the pass straddles the border between France and Italy with the D205 turning in to the SP251. Pass 5 bagged. Riding down the Italian side was beautiful with spectacular views and wonderful scenery. At Pontechianale we came across an beautiful reservoir with an impressive dam wall. We stopped for an explore to find it had been built in 1942! One would have thought they would have been too busy to embark on such major construction works in the middle of the war - clearly not!
Here the road changes to the SP105 and we continued along this until Sampeyre. Chris had hoped to fill up with petrol here and although there were two petrol stations neither was open! With 70km of fuel in the tank we decided to proceed with the route and hope the next station would be open! Nick smugly announced he still had 175miles of fuel left! The GSA once again showing its long distance touring credentials off! So we took a sharp right on to the SP335 and the Colle di Sampeyre 2,284m. This road was much smaller, narrower and the surface was not great. Either covered with pine needles or roughly pitted but at least metalled! The route although slow and hard work in the hot temperatures - around 25C and up to 30C in the valleys - was well worth it as the views were breathtaking. At the top there are mountains all around with stunning vistas with pretty little villages, beautiful woodland and wonderful alpine meadows - Chris was loving all flora and fauna! Pass 6 bagged.
The route down was much the same and at Stroppo we took the SP442 to Dronero where Tom Tom promised petrol in 25km - Chris having a range of 35km at the top of the pass! We made it down and were making good progress towards Dronero when Nick's bike lost traction, for no apparent reason, but through his own skill and the excellent technology and performance of the GSA managed to keep it upright and bring it to a sharp stop within millimetres of the armco! A little shaken we rode on to Dronero and filled up with petrol. The memorable petrol assistant kindly suggested a hotel to Chris, the Cavallo Bianco, which we duely found and took two single rooms including breakfast for E38 each! It was rather old fashioned and there was limited wi-fi / facilities but the rooms had lovely windows looking over the pretty piazza and the restaurant was excellent. So we checked in for 2 nights - a first for passport tours and what we had planned to do - albeit at either Sampeyre or Vinadio - Dronero was in fact between the two!
We had a great dinner in the very busy little restaurant and then went for a stroll around town before heading to bed.
Colle delle Finestre at 2,176m was our first and most challenging pass of the day. It rises directly from Susa and almost immediately is tight, technical and narrow with a poor road surface. The bottom section is metalled and in 2015 Nick and Chris had ridden up on their tourers. On reflection this was quite a feet as we found this section challenging and difficult on our adventure bikes. An added complication for the 2017 ride was a police escorted bicycle race! Just when we needed space to position for a corner we found a cyclist in the middle of the road!
Before we hit the unmetalled section where the real fun would start Chris managed to drop his Tiger Explorer by stalling mid hair-pin bend! Luckily the bike was only mildly scuffed and Chris un-hurt. Stupidly he had not realised he was still in 3rd gear - schoolboy error!
Having rested and re-organised himself Chris and Nick set off. Very soon hitting the unmetalled road. Unlike Umbrail where this is pretty smooth and solid with limited loose gravel and rocks Finestre is full of gravel, loose rocks and ruts! It was hot and very hard going and of course the cyclists were on the smoothest parts of the road! We managed the top after about 40 minutes hard work and one stop to relax and prepare for the summit. A few other bikers more familiar with off-roading shot passed us leaving us standing. Clearly they knew something we didn't - time for Passport Tours to head to the BMW off-roading school!
Eventually we reached the top and with great relief saw that the road down to Sestriere was smooth and metalled! We nearly knelt down and kissed the tarmac! The top was packed with cyclists, support vehicles and motorcyclists. We stopped for photos and a good rest. Following the SP23R down the other side we reached Sestriere which is an Olympic ski village and stopped for a drink and rest having bagged our second pass at 2,083m.
Heading on along the SP23R we found that Sestriere is really just the bottom half of the south side of Colle delle Finestre having no further upward section. We reached Cesana where we have stopped a couple of times before for an Italian cappuccino before entering France but this time continued onto the SS24 / N94 and up to Col du Montgenevre - our 3rd pass at 1,850m.
From here we followed the route we took in 2015 to Col d'Izoard 2,361m, by taking the D902 at Briancon. Col de l'Izoard was throughly enjoyable and once again we found a photographer near the top taking photos of bikers - we have bought ours of course! We also noticed a rather nice and very busy cafe, Refuge Napoleon du Col d'Izoard, on the Briancon side of the pass so we turned around and had a lovely lunch in the shade watching the riders and cyclists go by. Nick also amused himself by getting his MacBook and finding the photo of him riding up the Col in 2015 and taking a photo of his photo! All in all very pleasant and with 4 passes under our belt we felt good.
Next up was a new pass for us, Col Agnel at 2,744m, making it one of the highest in the Alps. We headed down the D902 through Arvieux and on to the junction with the D947 which we headed west to La Casse. Here we turned right (and south) on to the D5 and rode to Molines-en-Queyras where we took the D205 up the Col. It was a great ride much like the Galibier / Izeran roads and led us high up into a rocky, snowy and pretty barren landscape. At the top the pass straddles the border between France and Italy with the D205 turning in to the SP251. Pass 5 bagged. Riding down the Italian side was beautiful with spectacular views and wonderful scenery. At Pontechianale we came across an beautiful reservoir with an impressive dam wall. We stopped for an explore to find it had been built in 1942! One would have thought they would have been too busy to embark on such major construction works in the middle of the war - clearly not!
Here the road changes to the SP105 and we continued along this until Sampeyre. Chris had hoped to fill up with petrol here and although there were two petrol stations neither was open! With 70km of fuel in the tank we decided to proceed with the route and hope the next station would be open! Nick smugly announced he still had 175miles of fuel left! The GSA once again showing its long distance touring credentials off! So we took a sharp right on to the SP335 and the Colle di Sampeyre 2,284m. This road was much smaller, narrower and the surface was not great. Either covered with pine needles or roughly pitted but at least metalled! The route although slow and hard work in the hot temperatures - around 25C and up to 30C in the valleys - was well worth it as the views were breathtaking. At the top there are mountains all around with stunning vistas with pretty little villages, beautiful woodland and wonderful alpine meadows - Chris was loving all flora and fauna! Pass 6 bagged.
The route down was much the same and at Stroppo we took the SP442 to Dronero where Tom Tom promised petrol in 25km - Chris having a range of 35km at the top of the pass! We made it down and were making good progress towards Dronero when Nick's bike lost traction, for no apparent reason, but through his own skill and the excellent technology and performance of the GSA managed to keep it upright and bring it to a sharp stop within millimetres of the armco! A little shaken we rode on to Dronero and filled up with petrol. The memorable petrol assistant kindly suggested a hotel to Chris, the Cavallo Bianco, which we duely found and took two single rooms including breakfast for E38 each! It was rather old fashioned and there was limited wi-fi / facilities but the rooms had lovely windows looking over the pretty piazza and the restaurant was excellent. So we checked in for 2 nights - a first for passport tours and what we had planned to do - albeit at either Sampeyre or Vinadio - Dronero was in fact between the two!
We had a great dinner in the very busy little restaurant and then went for a stroll around town before heading to bed.
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Statistics
Depart Susa - 10:15am Distance miles 148miles Time in saddle 5:23hrs Average speed 27mph Average fuel 51mpg Passes bagged - 6 Cumulative tour distance 919miles Tour passes - 11 Arrive 6:45pm - Dronero, Italy |
Countries
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Passes
Colle delle Finestre at 2,176m Colle del Sestriere 2,083m Col du Montgenevre 1,850m Col d'Izoard 2,361m Col Agnel at 2,744m Colle di Sampeyre 2,284m |
Day three, Wednesday 21 June 2017
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After a good nights sleep, albeit Nick was unimpressed by the hourly ringing of the church bells, we had an excellent breakfast with a superb cappuccino. Given we were returning to the same hotel we decided to pack only essentials and agreed to meet at the bikes. This proved not to be so easy as we couldn't decide what was essential? Usually we just grabbed our bags and took everything. After lightening up our load to essentials we met at the bikes in the hot morning sun to find Nick had forgotten his helmet. Chris retreated to the shade whilst Nick ran (walked) back up the stairs to collect his helmet. On his return Chris realised he had forgotten his gloves!!!! Not a good start!
We made good progress along our liaison to Vinadio following the xyz roads. The we turned on to the xxx road and up Col della Lombarde and our first pass for the day at 2,350m. We had great fun photographing and videoing each other on the pass and the riding conditions and weather were perfect if a little hot. We then followed the bbb road down to Isola 2000 - pass 2 at 2,000m. Continuing down to the GGGG we turned right and rode north up and over Col de la Bonette our 3rd pass at 2,802m - the highest in the Alps.
As we road up we encountered to our great surprise rain! It was not that heavy and usefully cooling but it did mean we had to be careful when cornering. The top was busy with cyclists, motorcycles and cars - all queuing to get photographs of the Col stone. We waited for some time for a lady to move. After starting to photograph her she eventually begrudgingly moved on! The route down was excellent. The road wider than the north side and therefore allowing greater speed. Few hairpins and good sweeping bends made for enjoyable riding and even more videoing. Apologies to the white van who kept featuring in our videos!
At the bottom we reached Jausiers and stopped for lunch at 1:30pm. Our timing was impeccable as the lightening and thunder started and we missed an absolute torrential downpouring. The cafe we stopped at was superb. A wonderfully friendly Frenchman ran the place and he could have been more attentive. Well fed, watered and rested we set off to ride Col de? Carole 2,xxxm. We rode up the D902 from Jaussiers and reached zzzz point where a land slip caused by the torrential thunderstorm earlier had covered the road in deep mud and debris. The workman were trying to clear it but we didn't have time to wait. So we headed back the way we came unfortunately not bagging that pass.
We decided to make for Col d'Allos instead. Turning sharp left where the D902 hits the cccc road we followed the xxxx up Cold'Allos. It was a great ride. The road is narrow, much like Col du Cayolle and like that has many bridges although it is high above the gorge where as Cayolle runs through the bottom of the gorge for a good few kilometres. The roads are narrow so speed was reduced and we did meet quite a bit of traffic including Winabagoes and some large vans. The summit afforded some great views including some bad weather setting in consequently we did not hang around! That was our 5th proper pass at 2,ddddm. We rode back the way we came, through Jausiers and along the xxxx towards xcvbb. Turing right on the mmmm we rode up Col du Larche our 6th pass at 2,bbbbm. This seemlessley merges into Colle Della Magdelina also 2,xxxxm and is effectively the downside of Larche! These were relatively fast road passes with lots of heavy trucks using the route to cross the border between Italy and France. The road was fast but the surface pretty uneven and Magdelina had a series of stacked hairpins in a very mixed condition! One particularly bad piece of road came on a hairpin with an articulated lorry passing us! We had to stop and let it though the road was so potted on our side!
The rest of liaison home was uneventful and we arrived after are first day of no luggage happy with our days riding but concluding that actually now our luggage is so easy to pack and makes so little difference to the handling of the bike the flexibility of being able to go anywhere beats the need to dump your luggage! Oh well you live and learn
We made good progress along our liaison to Vinadio following the xyz roads. The we turned on to the xxx road and up Col della Lombarde and our first pass for the day at 2,350m. We had great fun photographing and videoing each other on the pass and the riding conditions and weather were perfect if a little hot. We then followed the bbb road down to Isola 2000 - pass 2 at 2,000m. Continuing down to the GGGG we turned right and rode north up and over Col de la Bonette our 3rd pass at 2,802m - the highest in the Alps.
As we road up we encountered to our great surprise rain! It was not that heavy and usefully cooling but it did mean we had to be careful when cornering. The top was busy with cyclists, motorcycles and cars - all queuing to get photographs of the Col stone. We waited for some time for a lady to move. After starting to photograph her she eventually begrudgingly moved on! The route down was excellent. The road wider than the north side and therefore allowing greater speed. Few hairpins and good sweeping bends made for enjoyable riding and even more videoing. Apologies to the white van who kept featuring in our videos!
At the bottom we reached Jausiers and stopped for lunch at 1:30pm. Our timing was impeccable as the lightening and thunder started and we missed an absolute torrential downpouring. The cafe we stopped at was superb. A wonderfully friendly Frenchman ran the place and he could have been more attentive. Well fed, watered and rested we set off to ride Col de? Carole 2,xxxm. We rode up the D902 from Jaussiers and reached zzzz point where a land slip caused by the torrential thunderstorm earlier had covered the road in deep mud and debris. The workman were trying to clear it but we didn't have time to wait. So we headed back the way we came unfortunately not bagging that pass.
We decided to make for Col d'Allos instead. Turning sharp left where the D902 hits the cccc road we followed the xxxx up Cold'Allos. It was a great ride. The road is narrow, much like Col du Cayolle and like that has many bridges although it is high above the gorge where as Cayolle runs through the bottom of the gorge for a good few kilometres. The roads are narrow so speed was reduced and we did meet quite a bit of traffic including Winabagoes and some large vans. The summit afforded some great views including some bad weather setting in consequently we did not hang around! That was our 5th proper pass at 2,ddddm. We rode back the way we came, through Jausiers and along the xxxx towards xcvbb. Turing right on the mmmm we rode up Col du Larche our 6th pass at 2,bbbbm. This seemlessley merges into Colle Della Magdelina also 2,xxxxm and is effectively the downside of Larche! These were relatively fast road passes with lots of heavy trucks using the route to cross the border between Italy and France. The road was fast but the surface pretty uneven and Magdelina had a series of stacked hairpins in a very mixed condition! One particularly bad piece of road came on a hairpin with an articulated lorry passing us! We had to stop and let it though the road was so potted on our side!
The rest of liaison home was uneventful and we arrived after are first day of no luggage happy with our days riding but concluding that actually now our luggage is so easy to pack and makes so little difference to the handling of the bike the flexibility of being able to go anywhere beats the need to dump your luggage! Oh well you live and learn
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Statistics
Depart Grand Pass St Bernard - 9:30am Distance 210miles Time in saddle 6:20hrs Average speed 33mph Average fuel 53mpg Passes bagged - 5 Cumulative tour distance 1,255miles Tour passes - 19 Arrive Mozzio 7:15pm |
Countries
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Day four, Thursday 23 June 2017
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Having had one of the best days riding in our 10 years touring on the last day of the 2015 tour we wanted to repeat the experience and share it with Michael. Starting in a different place this time, Mozzio, Italy, we headed back over the Simplon Pass (pass 1 at 2,005m) and turned right heading east when we reached Brig and on to the E19. We followed this to Wichel and took the Nufenenstrasse up the Nufenenpass (pass 2 at 2,477m). This was a great high speed pass and we followed an old BMW R80 motorcycle up it which despite age and lack of horsepower absolutely nailed the pass and kept ahead of us! Ably demonstrating that skill rather than horsepower are the most significant factor in how fast one can ride up a mountain pass!
After a pleasant stop at the top, albeit not the nicest cafe, despite its stunning view we carried on down the other side of the pass to Airolo where we headed north up the D2 - the Gotthard Pass (pass 3 at 2,091m). Sadly Nick missed the pass as he was leading at pace and overshort the turn off to start the pass. He instructed Michael and Chris to turn up the pass and that he would turn around and catch us up. Sadly for Nick he found himself on a dual carriageway heading for the 10mile long Gotthard-Strassentunnel! When he realised he advised us to carry on over the top and that we would meet up in Andermatt! Michael and Chris throughly enjoyed the Gotthard Pass and this year road the Tremolo road - the old cobbled road. This is much tighter and more technical than the newer pass road but as a consequence has much less traffic and some stunning views. We stopped for a few quick photos at the top before heading down to meet Nick in a cafe we last visited on the 2007 tour! Here we had a great lunch and break being entertained by watching various people posing in their posh cars and showing off the stunning young ladies that accompanied them. We were also fascinated by a very quiet helicopter that flew over us. It had counter rotar blades - something we had never seen before.
We were now well in to repeating day 4 of the 2015 tour - so we set off up the Andermatt side of the Oberalppass - the best side by far in our view. It has sublime sweeping bends and then superb fast straights and tunnels leading to its bizarre lighthouse topped summit. Pass 4 at 2,046m. Retracing our route back in to Andermatt we then blasted up the Furkapass (pass 5 at 2,436m) following an excellent rider on a tiny single cylinder Yamaha. Whilst we evenutally overtook him he once again ably demonstrated skill and local knowledge, not horsepower count on Alpine passes!
Next was the Grimsel pass (pass 6 at 2,164m) - another fine pass with just about every kind of riding from sharp technical hairpins, to fast contour rises and on the northern side smooth sweeping bends. Riding on and over Grimsel we turned right at Innerkirchen and up Susten Pass. Pass 7 at 2,224m and a firm favourite since we first rode it in 2015. Here we stopped for our last Alpine snack and drink. We were baked in sunlight and had a great time reflecting on a fabulous tour and watching the hustle and bustle of the bikes and cars zooming over the pass.
After this we set our satnavs, well Nick's satnav, for the Hotel Novotel Metz Hauconcourt arriving at 11pm, after enduring some 36 degree heat on the way out of Switzerland and into France. Petrol station shops became something of haven with lovely air conditioned coolness, if only for a little while!
After a pleasant stop at the top, albeit not the nicest cafe, despite its stunning view we carried on down the other side of the pass to Airolo where we headed north up the D2 - the Gotthard Pass (pass 3 at 2,091m). Sadly Nick missed the pass as he was leading at pace and overshort the turn off to start the pass. He instructed Michael and Chris to turn up the pass and that he would turn around and catch us up. Sadly for Nick he found himself on a dual carriageway heading for the 10mile long Gotthard-Strassentunnel! When he realised he advised us to carry on over the top and that we would meet up in Andermatt! Michael and Chris throughly enjoyed the Gotthard Pass and this year road the Tremolo road - the old cobbled road. This is much tighter and more technical than the newer pass road but as a consequence has much less traffic and some stunning views. We stopped for a few quick photos at the top before heading down to meet Nick in a cafe we last visited on the 2007 tour! Here we had a great lunch and break being entertained by watching various people posing in their posh cars and showing off the stunning young ladies that accompanied them. We were also fascinated by a very quiet helicopter that flew over us. It had counter rotar blades - something we had never seen before.
We were now well in to repeating day 4 of the 2015 tour - so we set off up the Andermatt side of the Oberalppass - the best side by far in our view. It has sublime sweeping bends and then superb fast straights and tunnels leading to its bizarre lighthouse topped summit. Pass 4 at 2,046m. Retracing our route back in to Andermatt we then blasted up the Furkapass (pass 5 at 2,436m) following an excellent rider on a tiny single cylinder Yamaha. Whilst we evenutally overtook him he once again ably demonstrated skill and local knowledge, not horsepower count on Alpine passes!
Next was the Grimsel pass (pass 6 at 2,164m) - another fine pass with just about every kind of riding from sharp technical hairpins, to fast contour rises and on the northern side smooth sweeping bends. Riding on and over Grimsel we turned right at Innerkirchen and up Susten Pass. Pass 7 at 2,224m and a firm favourite since we first rode it in 2015. Here we stopped for our last Alpine snack and drink. We were baked in sunlight and had a great time reflecting on a fabulous tour and watching the hustle and bustle of the bikes and cars zooming over the pass.
After this we set our satnavs, well Nick's satnav, for the Hotel Novotel Metz Hauconcourt arriving at 11pm, after enduring some 36 degree heat on the way out of Switzerland and into France. Petrol station shops became something of haven with lovely air conditioned coolness, if only for a little while!
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Statistics
Depart Mozzio at 9am Distance 490miles Time in saddle 9:46hrs Average speed 50mph Fuel consumption 52mpg Passes bagged - 7 Cumulative tour distance 1,745miles Tour passes - 26 Arrive Novotel Metz Hauconcourt at 11pm |
Countries
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